The collection was donated to the Northwest Architectural Archives by
LeRoy Gaarder.

Arrangement

The collection is organized alphabetically by commission name into the
following series:

Working DrawingsPhotographsFoldered materials
Biographical Note

LeRoy Gaarder was born in Highland, WI on June 10, 1891. He attended
schools there and in Dodgeville, WI, and entered St. Olaf College in
Northfield, MN, for one year (1912-1913). He attended night school at the
University of Minnesota from 1913 to 1917 while working in the offices of
Minneapolis architects Cecil Chapman (1913), Mather & Boerner (1914),
Howard Parsons (1915), and Purcell & Elmslie (1916-1917). Gaarder moved
back to Dodgeville and opened his own architectural practice (1917-1918), then
entered the U.S. Army for a year. In 1920, he moved to Albert Lea, MN and
opened a private office. During the Depression, Gaarder was appointed
consulting designing architect on the staff of the Public Buildings
Administration in Washington, DC. He later became a project planner for the
regional office of the PBA in Seattle (1943-1944). Except for these breaks,
Gaarder practiced in Albert Lea until well into the 1960s. He died in Albert
Lea on January 27, 1982.

Gaarder's first commissions were for the Farmers First National Bank
(Rake, IA, 1920) and Salem Lutheran Church (Albert Lea, 1922). These were
followed by St. Paul's Lutheran Church (1925-1926) and Queen of Angels Church
(1937), both in Austin, MN. Gaarder received an appointment for life from
Bishop Kelly of the Winona (MN) Diocese to plan Queen of Angels Church and
Parish Building, a project that lasted 27 years.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains original tracings, blueprints, and building
and detail photographs of numerous churches, including Queen of Angels
(1937-1962) and Christ Episcopal Churches (1950-1951), both in Austin, MN; St.
Luke's English Evangelical Lutheran Church (Waukesha, WI, 1925-1926); Danish
Baptist Church (1925) and Zion Lutheran Church (1947, 1966, 1972), both in
Albert Lea.

Additional Finding Aid

An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the
Manuscripts Division.

Related Material in the Northwest Architectural Archives

William G. Purcell papers (N 3)

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog
of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about
related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these
headings.